— — — — — —
The little fox had originally come to Hogwarts from Mahoutokoro for one reason: To find someone powerful to cling to.
Well, that had been her original goal.
Now? Now her goal was to have a whole litter of little foxes with Tom and restore the former glory of the Tamamo-no-Mae clan.
That said, the prophecy still lingered in the back of her mind. The foretold disaster had yet to appear, and the longer it stayed hidden, the more uneasy she felt.
Only after surviving the deadly calamity that had been foreseen would she finally be able to relax.
Tom expertly stroked her fluffy tail and thought for a moment. "At first, I assumed the danger you'd face would be Voldemort, or maybe the Feathered Serpent Quetzalcoatl."
"But the world's gotten a lot messier since then. I honestly can't predict what's coming anymore. I was even planning to send you back to Mahoutokoro once everything settled down, but now..."
He paused, "Stay in Britain."
Kamio immediately narrowed her eyes in delight and nodded obediently. "Mm. I'll listen to whatever you say."
Tom spent a while longer petting her before receiving a message from Ginny.
Only then did he reluctantly part ways with the fox.
When he finally found Ginny, Luna was with her.
"What are you two up to?" Tom asked, raising an eyebrow.
Luna looked normal enough. Ginny, on the other hand, was acting suspiciously, like someone preparing to commit a crime.
"It's all because of Brown." Ginny angrily wrapped her arms around Tom's and immediately started complaining. "Yesterday she was making fun of my freckles with her friends. I overheard everything."
"So I was planning to sneak into the Restricted Section and find some curse books."
Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "I want her to know what it's like to have something truly ugly growing all over her face. She made fun of my cute freckles—hmph, now she has to pay for that."
"Ginny…" Tom pinched the bridge of his nose. "How exactly did you end up in Gryffindor?"
"I support you doing what you want, I'm just curious."
Tom was mainly curious because the Sorting Hat had once shattered his dream and placed him in Slytherin, yet it had sorted a naturally dark witch like Ginny into Gryffindor.
"Because my last name is Weasley." Ginny sounded completely serious. "Every Weasley goes to Gryffindor."
Then she added thoughtfully, "Although honestly, I think I'd fit in Slytherin pretty well."
At this point, Ginny was showing clear signs of developing into a full-fledged delinquent.
Among the students in her year, she was already the unofficial boss of Gryffindor House.
And to be fair... that personality really would have fit Slytherin.
"I see... anyway, you don't need to go through all that trouble," Tom said. "Why sneak into the Restricted Section just to learn curses?"
He tapped her nose. "The library in my pocket world has copies of every book in the school. Even curses from other schools, and many pure-blood families' collections."
Ginny blinked.
"Ohhh." A moment later, realization dawned. "Right! I forgot about that."
Yeah, Tom had copied Hogwarts' entire library into the pocket world. He just visited the actual library so rarely that she'd forgotten.
"Then what are we waiting for?" she said eagerly. "Let's go! The sooner I learn a suitable curse, the sooner Brown gets what she deserves."
Ginny couldn't wait another second and immediately demanded that Tom send her into the pocket world, which he did—after she gave him two kisses.
"..."
Luna watched the exchange with a puzzled expression. "You're not going to stop her?"
Tom looked down at her, "You weren't exactly stopping her either."
"I tried." Luna shook her head. "She wouldn't listen."
Then she looked up at him. "But it's different for you. She listens to you."
Tom chuckled. "But why would I stop her? If Lavender Brown started talking behind her back first, then Ginny getting even seems perfectly reasonable."
He shrugged. "Why should I stop my girl from doing something she wants to do for the sake of someone else?"
Luna tilted her head and considered his words.
After a while, she nodded. "You make a good point. Next time, I won't try to talk her out of it."
Tom laughed and ruffled Luna's hair.
The two of them hadn't officially started dating, but Luna never rejected any of his affectionate gestures.
...
..
As it turned out, Ginny really was extraordinarily talented when it came to curses.
She found what she wanted on Saturday.
After spending all of Sunday studying it, she successfully cast it that very night.
Monday morning, Lavender Brown entered the Great Hall for breakfast.
Her face was covered in pimples. Not even makeup could hide them.
Meanwhile, at the staff table, Dumbledore looked more exhausted than he had ever been.
Clearly, Lupin had already spoken with him.
For Dumbledore, it was a case of one disaster arriving before the last had ended.
Not a single piece of good news. Only bad news, one after another.
The only thing that gave him some comfort was that Lupin and Tom hadn't ignored the situation.
Tom had sent a powerful ally to assist. So from his understanding, at the very least, Lupin's safety was guaranteed.
And there was even a chance they might capture the dangerous vampire, Lester.
Still, there were so many other things on Dumbledore's mind that he didn't pay much attention to Lester. Vampires weren't his priority.
Because, honestly, compared to the vampire threat, Voldemort and Herpo were far greater dangers in his view.
For the greater good, he could only set aside some lesser crises for the time being.
At the same time, the seat belonging to Grindelwald at the staff table was empty.
After hearing Jeanne's intelligence report, even Grindelwald had become uneasy. He had already returned to Berlin and begun pulling back the territory controlled by the Acolytes.
His forces were retreating from the bizarre chaos spreading across the Americas and concentrating instead on securing their holdings throughout Europe.
Historically, Europe had always been the center of the world's magical conflicts.
But this time was different. The recent catastrophes, along with the mysterious Sun Chasers lurking in the shadows, all originated from the American continents.
Until he understood what was happening, Grindelwald had no intention of setting foot there again.
The sole exception was Robert Graves.
That chess piece was no longer particularly valuable. And recalling him would serve little purpose, so Grindelwald simply left him in the United States to fend for himself.
...
As the days passed, Jeanne successfully met up with Lupin.
After exchanging the agreed-upon code phrases, Lupin looked at the braided young woman standing before him and couldn't help feeling doubtful.
This is the powerful reinforcement Tom promised? Is this a joke?
"Miss..."
Lupin carefully chose his words. "Are you confident you can handle the dangers we're about to face?"
Looking at Jeanne, she seemed no older than an upper-year Hogwarts student, perhaps a recent graduate at most. It wasn't surprising that he had reservations.
Under normal circumstances, Jeanne would have patiently explained things. Unfortunately for Lupin, the one currently in control wasn't the kind-hearted Jeanne. It was Jalter.
"Enough talking."
The girl gripped her battle flag and shot him an irritated glare.
Instantly, the surrounding air grew heavy under the pressure of her overwhelming magic.
Lupin felt his breathing become difficult.
"The fact that Tom sent me here means I can handle whatever shows up." Her golden eyes narrowed. "Since when was it your place to question that?"
She took a step forward, her expression fierce.
"All you need to do is tell me one thing. Who is my enemy?"
"Do you understand, little puppy?"
.
.
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